28 January 2012

of photobooth friday! how is this possible? wait, don't answer that. this I do solemnly swear: as long as there are photobooths, I will be jumping into them. and as long as I am here on the internets, I will be sharing.

26 January 2012

so yesterday ezra sang with his second grade class and is there anything better than elementary school music performances? no, there is not. because they sing with their whole bodies, they sing with everything. they sway and they wiggle and they get so excited about the music they JUST HAVE TO MOVE. and they practice and practice these songs and then there's a whole gymnasium filled with people who've come to listen to them sing. it's a big day so they show up wearing things like gold sequined capes and red velvet vests, miniature bow ties and tiny tiaras. special dresses and shiny shoes and tucked-in shirts. and then some kids show up wearing tee shirts. the whole scene makes my heart swell. it always does.

they sang a few of the classics but then the music teacher threw us a curve ball. and it's not like I ever even liked the song dynamite but there is no way not to like it now that I've seen it performed by fifty-three second graders. because my goodness. when fifty-three second graders throw their hands up in the air and sing how they 'GON LIGHT IT UP, LIKE IT'S DY-NO-MITE', all bets are off. the song took on a completely different meaning and don't you know they brought the house down. the crowd went wild and fifty-three second graders (my son included) beamed. and if that is not the best thing to happen all week well then I don't know what is.

23 January 2012

week three of january photo a day, a little photo challenge over on instagram. to be clear, this is a diversion. a thing I am doing to take my mind off the month they call january. januuuuuuaaaaaaaarrrry. we are facing our first long stretch of rain here in portland and it's possible I will not make it.

20 January 2012

six years ago, I wrote about a piece of graffiti on the walls of a car wash on dekalb avenue in atlanta. it was something I looked for everyday as I drove back and forth. the color inspired me, cracked a little something open in me. everyday, I'd race by that car wash and everyday that piece was there, singing my song. and then one day it wasn't. such is the nature of graffiti and street art, nothing is permanent, everything is fluid. work gets painted over all the time (comes with the territory) but still. I've never really forgotten it, for whatever reason. the graffiti writer behind that piece, hense, is an artist I've been following since the early nineties. billboards, overpasses, buildings, train cars, he was up all over the city. his work is as much atlanta to me as dekalb avenue and the majestic diner, as the civic yard and marta trains and MLK.

so of course we took a little drive down dekalb avenue while we were home for christmas and dang it if we didn't stumble onto spectacular new work by hense. I wrote a little bit about it today over at poppytalk, hop on over if you like. a shot in the arm, fresh new work, color for days, all these things. it's like driving by that car wash all over again.

17 January 2012

you were so sparkly and radiant back then! bright like a roman candle. thing is, you are just as bright and sparkly and radiant now. more so, even. how do you do that? add to that list brave and strong. so strong. I am (and always will be) endlessly inspired by you.

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY)

xo, a

p.s. are you wearing your paper crown? if I was there, you know I'd make you wear that paper crown.

12 January 2012

first instant shot of the year, taken at the high museum of art on january 3rd. a bit of a decisive moment, friends. given how unsettled and unsure I've been feeling about the year ahead, it's a moment I keep coming back to. I want to step into the new year the same way I composed this image, the same way my finger pressed that little red shutter button-- quietly. and with great confidence.